Yahoo on Sunday delivered the first worldwide free-of-charge live stream of an NFL game in history, and in those few hours and the handful of days since, there have been many opinions shared about whether viewers were satisfied with the broadcast quality and the units of measure used to determine whether the event should be labeled a success. There was, to some degree, a case-by-case range of the product’s clarity and consistency in real time, but NFL Senior VP/Media Strategy, Business Development & Sales Hans Schroeder yesterday during the '15 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference said he was encouraged by what soon became an overarching theme echoed throughout the Twitterverse -- it felt like television. Both Schroeder and Yahoo Sports VP & Group Lead Ken Fuchs conceded that there is ambiguity across the industry on how best to measure success. But Schroeder said of critics harping on which metric most accurately represents fan engagement, “Yes, those guys are right, and I think it’s an important point to focus on. But just to focus on that misses the bigger picture of what the scale and size of digital and what the global aspect meant, and what opportunity there is for more live-sport distribution through digital properties.” Fuchs said there is one clear takeaway from the numbers, regardless of your preferred tracking method: “The Internet is ready for live sports.”
MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING: Yahoo reportedly took a substantial financial hit with this NFL deal, but Fuchs, who chose not to comment on the ROI, said there were plenty of other benefits for the company. “One, we proved the fact that sports is ready for this medium," he said. "Two, we proved that there’s an audience for it that you can deliver at scale. Three, we proved that there’s a global audience for the NFL that’s waiting to be tapped. Fourth, it accelerated product development for us.” He added that the game provided a unique opportunity for Yahoo’s ad partners, as well.
